PBS高端访谈:SpaceX发射载人龙飞船（在线收听）

Hari Sreenivasan: Just before 3 a.m. today a SpaceX rocket carrying a capsule known as Crew Dragon lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule is designed for astronauts, but on this mission it's carrying only a so-called "smart dummy" named Ripley, designed to gather data about how the flight might affect human occupants. The Crew Dragon is now in orbit and will attempt to dock with the International Space Station tomorrow. If successful, it could mean NASA will use privately built spacecraft for future missions as soon as this summer. Joining us now from New Orleans, where she has been monitoring Crew Dragon, is Loren Grush, senior science reporter for The Verge. Why is this such a big deal?

Loren Grush: You know since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 NASA has only really had one option for getting its astronauts to the International Space Station. And that has been the Russian Soyuz rocket and it's not been a great arrangement because it's expensive it costs NASA eighty one million dollars per seat to get just one astronaut to the International Space Station and it's limiting the only have that one option. So if this was worth it to go out of commission then we wouldn't have a way to get our astronauts into space. But with the commercial crew program is about bringing the human spaceflight program back to America. These capsules are built by U.S. companies and when they launch people that will be the first time since the space shuttle program that NASA astronauts have launched from American soil on American made the animals once again.

Hari Sreenivasan: When we saw this rocket lift off it was kind of a throwback. I mean these capsules look like the capsules that we saw in the early parts of the space program. They were kind of designed to do one thing versus a space shuttle which was designed to do lots of things when it comes to how to build a capsule.

Loren Grush: When it comes to how to build a capsule there is really a good design for how to launch a space and then how to bring it back again. So you know the capsule design is kind of dictated by you know the best way to get to and from the International Space Station. But yes it is quite reminiscent of the early capsules that we used to build.

Hari Sreenivasan: But is there a longer term vision here. If this goes well and again this is the big if. I mean this is just part one. So let me talk about that a little bit. Getting into space wasn't the hard part. There are a couple of kind of intricate maneuvers that have to happen. Usually the space station reaches out and grabs whatever is coming to it. But this is supposed to happen automatically?

Loren Grush: Right. So a big difference between this capsule and the Dragon cargo capsules that SpaceX has been sending to the International Space Station since 2010 those are bursts to the ISS which means that yes a robotic arm operated by a crew member grabs the capsule and then brings it on to the space station where it is then attached. But these capsules automatically docks with a series of lasers and sensors to find the a docking port on the outside in the International Space Station. And then it just automatically moves toward it and then attaches on its own. And that's something that SpaceX has never demonstrated before. So if they can pull off that maneuver which is slated for tomorrow then that's going to be a very big deal because that's going to be how they bring astronauts to the International Space Station in the future.

Hari Sreenivasan: And then finally it's going to have to hang out there for about a week and then splash down the old fashioned way in the middle of the ocean on Friday, right?

Loren Grush: Right. It's not going to stay for very long just a few days but the three crew members on board the International Space Station right now, they'll go inside the capsule now bring out some cargo that it brought up with it. Also packed it with cargo. They're going to run some tests to see how it's faring in the space environment. Now is it sturdy. Is it doing what it's designed to do. And then on Friday morning after all is said and done it will end up slowly and then reenters atmosphere and then a series of parachutes will deploy to slow the capsule descent to the earth and it will splash down in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida. If all goes well.

Hari Sreenivasan: Alright, Loren Grush of The Verge, joining us via Skype. Thanks so much.

Loren Grush: Thanks for having me.

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：今天凌晨3点前，太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）的一艘火箭携带着载人版龙飞船从加州的肯尼迪航天中心升空。载人版龙飞船是为宇航员设计的，但在这次任务中，它只携带了一个所谓的“智能人体模型”，名作里普利。里普利的设计是为了收集数据，了解此次飞行对人类的影响。载人版龙飞船现在正在轨道运行，并将试图与国际空间站于明天对接。如果对接成功，就可能意味着美国宇航局将通过自己建造的航天器用于未来的任务，早的话，可能今年夏天就能投入使用。我台记者高级科学领域The Verge的记者洛伦一直在新奥尔良密切关注载人版龙飞船的消息，下面我们将与他连线，了解一下这件事的重要性。

洛伦：自从2011年航天飞机项目结束后，美国宇航局将宇航员送往国际空间站就只剩下了一个选择。这个选择就是采用俄罗斯的联盟号火箭，但这并不是一个绝好的选择。因为联盟号价格昂贵，一个座位就需要美国宇航局耗资100万美元才能将1名宇航员送往国际空间站，这个唯一的选择很有局限性。所以，就算值得，但一旦经费耗尽，我们也没法将宇航员送入太空。但商业宇航员项目是要将载人航天项目带回美国。这些太空舱是由美国的公司所建造，一旦载人升空，就将会是航天飞机项目后首次将宇航员从美国国土送往太空。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：我们看到火箭升空的瞬间就仿佛回到了过去。因为这些太空舱看起来很像是之前太空项目的太空舱。今天的太空舱，其设计的初衷是做一件事，而以前的航天飞机是要做很多件事。

洛伦：在提到如何建造太空舱的问题时，美国宇航局可以很好地设计出可以往返的太空舱。所以，太空舱的设计是往返于国际空间站的最优解。但是太空舱的设计肯定会让我们回忆起以前建造的太空舱。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：但这里是否有更为长期的愿景呢？现阶段的设计是否只是并非全貌呢？这里我想说的是，进入太空并非最难的部分。有一些复杂的事情一定会发生，一般情况下，空间站会吸收一切离它近的物体。但这一切是否是自动发生的呢？

洛伦：我来解释一下，这个太空舱和SpaceX在2010年后向国际空间站发送的载人版龙飞船之间有一个巨大的区别，即对于国际空间站的区别。也就是说：宇航员操纵的机械臂会抓住太空舱，然后将它带到与它绑定的国际空间站。但这些太空舱会自动与一系列激光和传感器对接，从而发现国际空间站外的对接口。然后，它会自动向它移动，并进行绑定。这是SpaceX此前从未做过的。如果他们明天能实现这个操作，就会有重大的意义，因为未来他们就可以用这个方法将宇航员送往国际空间站。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：最后，它要在那里待大概一周的时间，然后摒弃以前的旧方法。

洛伦：它不会逗留很久，只会待几天，但这3名宇航员现在正在国际空间站，他们会进入太空舱，带出一些所携带的物品。然后再装满物品。他们会进行一些测试，来看看在太空环境中物体的情况。现在稳了，他们所做的都在计划中。周五早上，他们会结束任务，重新进入大气层，一系列降落伞会让他们缓慢着陆在地球上，并进入加州海岸附近的大西洋，这是理想的情况。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：好的，非常感谢洛伦通过Skype加入我们。

洛伦：感谢与我连线。